Two Bros and a Human (Chapter 4)
A bout of inspiration hit and I figured I’d write instead of letting it go- so here’s another short chapter for this underfluff mess ~
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Papyrus was busy scrambling some eggs when he felt a tiny hand touch his thigh. He jumped a little, but quickly remembered the human and looked down to see Frisk, disheveled and sleepy, looking up at him while they rubbed the sleep from their eyes.
“Oh! Good morning, human. Did the tantalizing smell of my cooking wake you?”
Frisk smiled, but it quickly turned into a yawn.
“Go on and have a seat at the table- these eggs are just about adequately scrambled,” Papyrus said, turning back to his food. Now aware of it, he heard the little staggered noises of Frisk’s feet on the linoleum.
The toast popped out of the toaster and Papyrus jumped, like he always did. He heard the human snicker behind him but he just puffed his chest up and ignored it- Sans agreed that the toaster was a very scary and very serious threat. Papyrus nearly charred his bones trying to get the slices out.
He shot Frisk a look, just like he’d shoot to his brother, except instead of grinning back they put their head down and went quiet. That wouldn’t do at all, Papyrus thought sadly.
“Here you go, my tiny human fr- acquaintance,” he corrected, setting the plate down in front of the human. Hands free, he went to the fridge and picked up the ketchup and set it down beside his guest.
Frisk looked up at him with a disgusted face.
“I know! But Sans likes ketchup on his eggs, I thought I would offer,” he said quickly, replacing the bottle where it had came from.
Frisk signed something. Papyrus cocked his head while he cleaned up the breakfast mess and Frisk seemed to remember he didn’t know sign language.
They pointed upstairs and then made a circle with their hands.
“Oh! Sans!” Papyrus said, nearly dropping the pan he was scrubbing. “Oh no, he never eats when he first wakes up, he says it upsets his stomach,” Papyrus smiled idly down at the soapy sink. “He’ll probably stumble down here in a few minutes and collapse at the table and say ‘mornin’ bro, didja make me some coffee?’ because that’s what he always says,” Papyrus explained, using his best impersonation of his brother. Frisk breathily giggled at him.
They nodded before picking up their fork and digging into their breakfast. Papyrus watched for a moment, delighted he would finally have somebody to cook for in the mornings, before making his way over and starting Sans’s coffee.
“Brother works a morning shift at his sentry duty today, otherwise he wouldn’t be awake until noon at the earliest,” Papyrus elaborated, putting the filter in and measuring out the grounds. “It’s my day off, and I cancelled my training with Undyne so I could get you better acquainted with the household.”
He turned to fill the pot with water when he saw the human with a question written all over their face.
“Oh! Undyne, yes, she’s my friend! Well… more like my mentor. She’s the captain of the Royal Guard, probably the toughest monster in the underground aside from the King. She let Sans and I join the Guard at it’s lowest ranks, but she still trains me so someday I can advance.” Papyrus paused before he turned the coffee machine on. “Well, no worries, you won’t be meeting her anytime soon. She has a, ah… how to put it… a very strong aversion to humans,” Papyrus explained, finally walking over and taking a seat beside the human.
Frisk nodded with a bit of egg hanging out of their mouth. Papyrus noted how messy their hair looked. Hopefully Sans still had that comb he bought as a gag.
Almost on cue, heavy footsteps were heard going down the stairs, and Sans grumbled his way into the kitchen and flopped down into one of the chairs with what looked like enough force to break it. He looked at the human for a second before he yawned and leaned his head back.
“Ugh… mornin’ bro. Didja make me some coffee?”
Frisk turned to the taller skeleton with a twinkle in their eye. Papyrus grinned and patted their head before he stood again.
“Good morning, brother,” Papyrus said. He returned a moment later with a travel mug full of coffee, setting it down in front of the sleepy skeleton. “You don’t quite look like monsterkind’s first line of defense. You look more like a big sleepy beanbag,” Papyrus said.
Sans snorted but accepted the mug, chugging what looked to be half of it in one go. He wiped his mouth and rubbed at his eyes.
“Eh, didn’t sleep too well last night. Ya know how it is.”
“Nightmares?” Papyrus asked.
Sans shrugged, but his silence was enough. Papyrus sighed but said nothing more, instead turning to the human, who watched their exchange in quiet fascination. Sans eventually looked at them and groaned.
“Pap, you know you’re gonna have to learn sign language if the kid stays.”
Papyrus blinked. He honestly hadn’t even thought of it.
“I’ve got some books in my closet, from when I first learned it,” Sans went on between gulps of coffee. “And ‘m sure the library has some.”
“Of course! I’m sure it will be much easier since Frisk will be here to help.” Papyrus put his hand on their head and puffed out his chest. “No worries, human! Soon we will be able to communicate with ease. In the meantime… uh…”
Frisk held their hand up in front of their face and made a motion like they were drawing on it.
“Ah, yes! You can draw your thoughts-”
“Or they could just write them,” Sans said with a brow bone raised.
Papyrus blushed but tried to hide it by puffing his chest out even more. His ribs were going to fly straight off of his body is he kept it up. “Y-Yes! That would work, too! Very resourceful, brother,” he said with a cough.
Sans had a mischievous smile on his face, but he seemed too tired to tease his younger brother for his little goof. He just sipped at his coffee while Frisk smiled. The human turned to Sans and signed something.
“Eh, it’s better with stuff in it, but black is more concentrated.”
Frisk signed something else, making a face.
Sans laughed a little. “Yeah, it’s bitter as hell. Just like me.”
“Sans!” Papyrus scolded, reaching over and slapping his brother’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t swear in front of the child.”
Frisk signed something.
“The kid says they’re eleven, Pap,” Sans translated.
“Eleven is too young to be swearing!”
Frisk pouted but signed something else. Sans blinked for a moment before he brought his cup down.
“Frisk wants to know how old you are, Pap,” Sans said.
“Oh! I’m nineteen,” Papyrus said with a grin. “And Mr. Lazybones is twenty five.”
Frisk nodded. The little human was already looking wide-eyed and awake, which was quite the shock when it took Sans hours to fully wake up. Papyrus grabbed their finished plate and took it to the sink.
Papyrus wouldn’t lie, he didn’t like not being able to understand what Frisk was saying. He clacked his teeth together for a moment, idling by the sink, before he hurried back to the table with the coffee pot in hand and topped off Sans’s drink.
“Alright then, human! I’ll start learning to sign at once, and you will be my teacher!” Papyrus announced with a flourish. “That way I can be sure you don’t say anything inappropriate. You don’t want to take after Sans, you know.”
The skeleton took another drink of his coffee. “C’mon, Pap, that’s a little harsh. Who shoved a bone up your a-”
Papyrus grabbed Sans in a choke hold while Frisk giggled.
“Sans you hooligan you will not make a habit of swearing in front of our guest!” Papyrus threatened. “One more offense and you’ll be getting nothing but vegetables for dinner for a week!”
Sans succeeded in shoving his brother off with a huff. “Bro… you wouldn’t…”
Papyrus ignored the human’s laughter while he shoved a finger in Sans’s face. “I will and you know it. No more swearing!”
Sans glared at him for a moment before he sighed and heaved himself to his feet. “Fine, fine, no more swearin’ around the kid. Ya got me good.”
Papyrus nodded. “Good. Now get going, you’re going to be late to work.”
Sans pssh’d his brother, but grabbed his mug and headed to the door regardless. “Yeah yeah, I’m goin. Don’t destroy the house while I’m gone.”
“We won’t!” Papyrus called while Sans tugged on his coat and left.
Frisk had a smile on their face while they watched. Papyrus regarded them warmly for a moment before ruffling their hair.
“Alright, human! First things first, let's get this mop under control,” Papyrus said. Frisk nodded happily.
